To the Point

The Dis-organization of American Labor

Yesterday, the AFL-CIO consisted of 56 unions. Today, as the organization continues it 50th birthday celebration in Chicago, the Teamsters and the Service Employees International have taken away some 25 percent of the AFL-CIO-s working members and a lot of its budget, creating the biggest split in the labor movement since the Depression. Other unions may follow. Is this week-s split about principle or personality and money? Can the dissenting unions re-start the organized labor movement or has it become irrelevant to the globalized economy? We get perspective from journalists who write on labor issues and veterans of the AFL-CIO and SEIU. Making News: Shuttle Discovery Launch, the Future of NASA Space Shuttle Discovery, the first space shuttle to fly since the Columbia disaster of 2003, has reached its orbit. The voice of launch control said it was -beginning America-s new journey to the moon, Mars and beyond.- Roger Launius, Chairman of the Division of Space History at the Smithsonian-s Air and Space Museum and former Chief Historian of NASA, updates today-s mission and considers the future of NASA. Reporter-s Notebook: Bush Administration Abandons its -War on Terror- Phrase Today-s New York Times reports that the Bush Administration is -retooling its slogan for the fight against Al Qaeda- and other terrorists. The Times says the phrase, -global war on terror,- has lost its value because it focuses only on military solutions. Yesterday, General Richard Myers, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, echoed that opinion to the National Press Club. Political theorist Benjamin Barber calls the revamped campaign an admission of failure.